Two Decades, One Condition, Zero Regrets

What 20 years with Type 1 diabetes has taught me about resilience & life

💙 A Date I’ll Never Forget

August 5th, 2005 — I was just 12 when I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Today marks 20 years of living with this condition — two decades of needles, numbers, alarms, confusion, courage, and quiet coping.

⏳ A Life That Never Turns Off

It’s hard to explain what it means to live with something that never turns off. Every small decision — food, exercise, sleep, travel, emotions — becomes something to monitor & manage. T1D is unseen yet unending; relentlessly there, 24x7!

🥄 The Quiet Years

For most of these 20 years, I didn’t talk about it as openly as I should have. I took pride in never letting diabetes slow me down, never asked for help, and never admitted to having a disability. I just carried on — quietly, constantly, and often at great cost to myself. I performed wellness and pretended to be fine, just like everybody else.

🌀 When the Body Speaks

But the truth is, I’m exhausted now. This past year brought that realisation into sharp focus — the hospital stays, the barrage of mysterious symptoms, the pain and anxiety, and all the unrelenting fatigue! My body has unequivocally asked for more attention, more rest, and more care than I ever realised it needed. And for the first time, I’ve started truly listening!

🌿 Redefining Disability

For starters, I’ve stopped seeing my needs as inconveniences and started acknowledging my condition as a disability — not in a limiting sense, but in a liberating one. It’s a recognition that honors the daily, invisible labor of living with T1D. And it has taught me that asking for support — from family, friends, colleagues, and myself — can be an act of strength too!

💭 How It’s Shaped Me

I’ve also begun to see how much this condition has shaped who I am. It’s made me more attuned to other people’s exhaustion, more aware of invisible struggles, more committed to making space for softness. It’s changed the kind of consultant, colleague, and friend I am, and deepened my sense of care — not just as an emotion, but as a practice.

🧃 Stigma, Silence, and Sugar Myths

Living with T1D in India has also meant living with stigma and silence in many ways. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had to explain that my condition wasn’t caused by “eating too much sugar as a kid,” or that taking insulin doesn't mean “it must be really bad,” or that I can, in fact, “eat rice, mangoes, and candies freely!” It’s exhausting and endlessly frustrating — but over the years I’ve also come to accept that these are manifestations of living within systems that aren’t built for us. And part of my growth has been learning when to educate… and when to let go.

🌱 Making Space in My Story

So, for the first time in 20 years, I’m allowing this condition to take up explicit space in my personal narrative here. Not because I want to be defined by it — but because it has defined me in more ways than one. And because sharing this helps me heal, and perhaps also helps someone else feel a little less alone.

🫂 Gratitude, in Detail

And I couldn’t have done this alone. I want to take this opportunity to especially thank my parents (Prem Chand Kankaria & Madhu Kankaria), who have been through so much with me — and so much more silently without me. I’m also deeply grateful to my sibling, my extended family, and all my friends and colleagues who’ve helped in countless ways. I still remember how Mrinmoyee brought me up to speed with everything at school after I returned from two weeks of hospitalization in August 2005. I still remember how Dipayan rushed me to the ER in the middle of the night after a severe hypoglycemia episode. I still remember how Milind double-checked my insulin doses at odd hours for weeks on end. And I still remember how Vinod has literally been on call with me through countless anxiety attacks.

🧩 The Power of Community

A special shout-out to the T1D community in India and abroad who have truly been an unyielding pillar of support! Fellow T1Ds just get it — the mental math, the night-time alarms, the rage boluses, the tiny wins. There’s so much relief in being understood without needing to explain, & I’m eternally grateful for all of their solidarity!

🌈 Honouring the Work of Survival

So today, I’m not just marking a milestone. I’m naming the quiet work of keeping myself alive, every single day, tirelessly for 20 years — and accepting that it’s no small feat. I’m celebrating how far I’ve come and holding space for where I still want to go. I don’t know what the next 20 years will look like, but I know I’ll meet them with more honesty, more softness, more clarity, and more support — and that feels like something to be proud of.

🧩 T1D Is Part of Who I Am

T1D is part of my identity now. Not a failure, not a flaw — just one (very important) thread in the fabric of who I am. And I’m learning to carry it with pride, patience, and grace.

🤝 If You’re Reading This...

If you’re navigating something similar — newly diagnosed, invisibly managing, or simply tired — I see you. You are not alone. And you’re doing more than most people know. If you’re a patient, parent, or caregiver dealing with the storm of T1D too, my DMs are always open for a chat!

💫 Here’s to the Next Chapter

Here’s to twenty years of holding complexity, uncertainty, and hope — all at once. And to a future that makes more room for care, connection, and collective resilience. #Type1Diabetes #20YearsWithT1D #ChronicIllness #InvisibleDisability #Empathy #Solidarity #Gratitude #T1DIndia #CareAndKindness